St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-12-13
CONQUERED AND CoNQUERoR
The Contempt in Which the Arabs
Hold Their French Rulers.

f1OIu Inelf FrenCn ISuItrS.
All the Year Around.
At that ball, as during the whole of
my stay in Algeria, nothing astonished
me more than the evident contempt en-
tertained by the conquered for the con-
querors, but they seemed inclined to
make no effort to throw off the yoke.
1t is as if they felt that they were
conquered, not by the French,
but by some inevitable fate to
whose decree they must bow with I'M
questioned submission. On the other
hand, the efforts which the French
make to c0nciiate the Arabs are almost
abject in the fervor of their humility.
That evening, if one of the ShelkS con-
descended to stroll into the ball room,
half dozen official perSOnages adj
vanced to bid him welcome; the gov
ernor and his wife overwhelmed him
with attention, and special officer was
told off to walk by his side and give
him any information he might require.
If this were done in the hope of excit-
ing gratitude it was labor in vain; the
skelk received the advance of his enter
tainerS with stately courtesy, but evil
IDENTIFY regarded all homage as his just
due.
Nor is it only in the palace that this
extraordinary inversion of the usual re-
iationShip between the conquered and
the eonduerorS exists; in the streets,
public assemblies, everywhere, the
same efforts are made by the French
officials to avoid all cause of Offense.
The gendarmerie and the soldiers are
literally hidden away i'll dark hooks and
caves. lest their presence should
wound the susceptibilities of the native
race, and on the few occasions when
they must necessarily be brought to the
fore, apparently they receive private IN
Structions that the Arabs are not to be
subjected to any of those petty tyran-
MES which it so delights the soul of a
Frence official to practice on his own
countrymen.
An amusing instance of this occurred
at the AigierS races few days after the
ball. A part of the ground near
the grand stand was surrounded
by red cord, as sign that the pub
lie was excluded. Through some mis-
understanding motley crowd of
Europeans broke down the red cord and
crowded into the reserve space. The
gendf rmeS, briStling with fury, rode
into their midst. and striking right aud
left with perfectly unnecessary violence
drove the people away. Some half hour
later the same thing occurred; again
the red cord fell and crowd took pos
session of the reserved ground, but
this time the crowd was Arab. evidently
of the poorest class. but SEi'l Arab. |
expected repetition of the former
scene, but to my establishment one
genda me looked at another. he made a
sign to third, who looked for direc-.
tionS to fourth, but no one yentured
to address the intruders.
At length some official of Importance
was sent for. and after considerable de-
lay, hesitation and consultation, this
person did summon sufficient courage to
ride up to the Enclosure, but far from
there being any signs of the violence
and abuse to which the Europeans had
been subjected he bowed to the Arabs as
If they were sovereign princes and he
the most lowly of their subjects. In the
blandeSt of tones he apOlOgized for dis
turbing them and entered into the most
elaborate explanation of the why and
where fore of the case, but all his pray
ers aud entreaties were i'll vain. The
Arabs listened to what he said with
courtesy equal to his own: the Staid
gravity of their faces never relaxed, but
move they would not. and did not, and
at length the officer rode away with
gesture of despair. and gave orders that
they were to be left i'll possession OF the
ground.